I've had my MacBook Air for about a year, and one night I heard the dreaded crack. My MacBook Air suffers from the "Hinge Defect".

I decided to try to fix it myself by just gluing whatever broke together and hope it works. I took it apart and took the broken hinge out of the plastic casing.

So I have two questions. My first question is: Is it okay to leave it like this? The Right hinge is resting on the plastic hinge cover, therefore dropping the screen slightly when it is open. It works okay for now, but how long will this last?

My second question is: Say I do want to try to fix this further, how do I get the screen completely off, and how safe is it? I know I need to remove the screws that hold on the main hinges, but what about all the smaller screws? It doesn't seem to want to come off without those removed.

i encountered the same problem as your. i live in singapore and i brought to the service centre here. The engineer didnt ask me why it happens and instead, they changed the whole LCD coz its comes together. I was so impressed and happy with the service.

I have taken it in (without a warranty), and they looked for the problem in their database thing, and said it was not a know problem, so it would cost me $650 to get a new screen. When did they fix it? And would me having taken it apart have any effect on them fixing it (if they would in the first place)?

When did you take it in? I thought I read they changed their policy about it.

I'm not impressed with apple at all, if I don't get this fixed for free this will surely be the last apple product I buy.

They do fix it. I open my and removed the broken hinges and they did not care and still fixed it.]

This may be the most useful post I've received. I'm not sure why I didn't think to look on the Apple website. But I wonder, will this still help? Will I be able to show a genius this page and demand a free repair? Is this my ticket to a free fix?!

*hit, they might of not taken you seriously if your 15. Were you with your parents right?

I was thinking the same thing. My mom was in the store, just not with me. I didn't seem to get a whole lot of respect, and was told I probably broke it. So I told him about the forums and googled pictures identical to my "problem", to which he responded by saying, "Well if you google MacBook Air Cracked Screen, It will all look the same too". I didn't really know what to say from there, so I just left.

I am going in Tuesday and will have my mom with me, and then my dad will go in Wednesday if that doesn't work. So we should be taken more seriously this time. I'm going to go to the same one and just hope for a different (or recently informed) person. Good idea?

I was thinking the same thing. My mom was in the store, just not with me. I didn't seem to get a whole lot of respect, and was told I probably broke it. So I told him about the forums and googled pictures identical to my "problem", to which he responded by saying, "Well if you google MacBook Air Cracked Screen, It will all look the same too". I didn't really know what to say from there, so I just left.

I am going in Tuesday and will have my mom with me, and then my dad will go in Wednesday if that doesn't work. So we should be taken more seriously this time. I'm going to go to the same one and just hope for a different (or recently informed) person. Good idea?

Yea, I was once young like you, macs when I was 10. Hard to get people serious about you till you pull out $3,000 cash at compusa. By then, they bring out a Powerbook for you.

Bring your mom with you. Try going in at a differnt time or different day of the week to avoid the same person. Don't be a dick and print out the support page and have it on hand. Wait for them and see what they say. If they say no, just pull up the page on a near by Mac.

Normally that should would be fixed for free providing there is no accidental damage, but you've taken your MacBook Air apart and glued stuff. I wouldn't be surprised if you've voided your warranty or coverage for this issue by doing that.

I haven't glued anything together yet, and the only thing I've done is take the base off and let the broken hinge fall out so it doesn't crack the hinge casing any more. I've treated this computer like I paid $1,700 for it, so it looks like new except for that.

Do you think me removing the hinge would really matter that much to them?

I haven't glued anything together yet, and the only thing I've done is take the base off and let the broken hinge fall out so it doesn't crack the hinge casing any more. I've treated this computer like I paid $1,700 for it, so it looks like new except for that.

Do you think me removing the hinge would really matter that much to them?

It shouldn't. I had my hinge removed, some glue left over and missing the power button. I might be damn lucky to get it replaced.

I called Apple Care for the exact same issue on my wife's MBA, and they repaired it with no hesitation. Though at first they wanted me to take it to an apple store, I asked if it could be handled through the mail and he said "of course, no problem."

Maybe you want to try 1-800-apl-care first to avoid the store altogether, given your experience.

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"Nobody ever reads these things so I can write anything. I'd eat bananas every day if they were crunchy."

I didn't get a chance to go in today, but I did call and they said if I were to take it in they would fix it. I didn't feel like asking why they didn't take mine at the store because I didn't feel like being accused again.

It makes me mad because they were either an idiot for not having the correct info, or for not taking me seriously.

I didn't put anything back together but four screws for the base because I figured they would know I took it apart anyway. Once I said I took it apart he kind of gave me a "Sorry your screwed" look. And then he said since you took it apart we can no longer fix it for free. This is the point where I would have turned around and left, but I had my mom with me. She stepped and basically scarred the crap out of him, in a nice way. So he got his manager and I told him the only reason I took it apart is because one if his "Geniuses" told me they had no record of a hinge defect, and I had no hope for it. So he gave the other guy the okay to pack it up.

It took some arguing, and whatever else, but in 7-10 business days I will have my like-new MacBook Air!